Prasarana orders 26 new Kelana Jaya Line train sets for over RM1 billion

KUALA LUMPUR, 13 OCTOBER 2026 —

Prasarana Malaysia Bhd is stepping up its Light Rail Transit maintenance operations and has ordered 26 new train sets for the Kelana Jaya Line at a cost of more than RM1 billion.

Prasarana acting president and group chief executive officer Dr Prodyut Dutt acknowledged that the Kelana Jaya Line had faced greater reliability challenges this year. From January to August, the line recorded one incident for every 749 kilometres travelled, compared with one incident for every 1,066 kilometres during the same period last year.

Dutt told Bernama recently that there was no denying the fact that the line was having more incidents this year than last year, representing a deterioration of about 30 percent. In contrast, the Ampang Line and Monorail recorded performance improvements of 20 and 80 percent, respectively.

Dutt emphasised that prioritising the Kelana Jaya Line was crucial, as it carries the highest passenger volume, at 290,000 daily. He revealed that 90 percent of disruptions on the line stemmed from rolling stock issues, with two-thirds triggered by the automated Emergency Braking safety system.

The Emergency Braking system activates automatically when onboard tachometer sensors, which monitor the speed of a train's wheels, detect speed discrepancies exceeding five percent. Cable wear and track vibrations can affect the sensors and contribute to these discrepancies.

Dutt said the issue was linked to the operating characteristics of the line's Linear Induction Motor system, which has been in service since 1998. He noted that the design characteristic of a Linear Induction Motor system is that the braking is naturally very hard, and overseas operators using the same system, such as in Vancouver, face the same issues with tachometers and emergency braking.

However, Dutt clarified that converting or replacing the system entirely was not feasible, as doing so would require the replacement of the entire power supply, signalling, trackwork and civil infrastructure. Prasarana would therefore have to operate within the existing design parameters.

On fleet condition, he said the Kelana Jaya Line operated 74 trains across three generations, including 26 first-generation four-car train units that had been in service for more than 17 years. An assessment found that overhauling trains aged 15 years would cost almost 90 percent of the price of a new unit, prompting Prasarana to order the 26 new train sets from Chinese manufacturer CRRC Corporation Limited.

The first new trains are scheduled to arrive in March 2029, with two sets expected to be delivered each month thereafter. Prasarana has worked with CRRC to refine the braking profile of the new trains during the Final Design Review, with the aim of ensuring smoother deceleration and improving passenger comfort.

While the new fleet will support long-term improvements, Dutt said Prasarana was also implementing interim measures and engineering interventions to stabilise operations before the new trains arrive. To manage immediate operational pressures, Prasarana has mobilised round-the-clock maintenance operations across its depots and specialised workshops to inspect, service and rectify train systems continuously, including intensive maintenance work in the electrical, door system and main repair workshops.

Dutt said global supply chain bottlenecks remained a challenge, with critical components such as tachometers facing lead times of eight to 12 months, which had prompted senior engineering teams to meet suppliers directly to expedite orders. He stated that cost was not the issue because the government had been very supportive through government guarantees and approved five-year funding programmes, noting that their main challenge was the lead time for spare parts.

He added that a major overhaul of the train bogies, which are the heavy undercarriage structures housing the wheels, suspension and braking systems on the nine-year-old third-generation trains, was scheduled to begin in June or July next year.

To minimise the impact on passengers during service disruptions, Prasarana is refining its contingency measures by introducing train turnbacks at selected locations to reduce congestion at key stations, isolating affected track sections, operating shuttle loops and deploying feeder buses.

Passenger communication is also being strengthened through direct, one-way WhatsApp broadcast alerts for registered users, while the presence of Auxiliary Police personnel, station officers and Prasarana Troopers is being increased on station platforms and in concourses to improve passenger flow management.

Related: CRRC Corporation Limited · Prasarana Malaysia Bhd · Dr Prodyut Dutt